Tom Hickman contributes to New Zealand Bill of Rights reform debate

Tom Hickman, Reader in Law at UCL Laws and barrister at Blackstone Chambers, will join Stephen Gardbaum, Professor of International Justice and Human Rights at the UCLA School of Law, and Joanna Davidson, barrister and former Special Counsel to the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office in Australia, at a special public event exploring the potential reform of the New Zealand Bill of Rights.

The event, New Zealand Bill of Rights: Continuing the Conversation, follows a report delivered by the New Zealand Constitutional Advisory Panel in November 2013 which emphasised the importance that New Zealanders place upon the Bill of Rights Act 1990, and suggested that further discussion may be needed as to whether the Act might be amended to improve its effectiveness.

Tom, who has written extensively on public law and human rights issues in a number of law journals and in his award-winning book, Public Law After the Human Rights Act, will consider the proposals contained in the Panel’s report and provide insights from other common law jurisdictions.

Hosted by The Law Foundation New Zealand in conjunction with the faculties of law at the University of Otago, University of Auckland and Victoria University of Wellington, the event will take place in the Old Legislative Council Chamber in Parliament House in Wellington on 3 June. During his trip to New Zealand, Tom will also be visiting the University of Otago and the University of Auckland, where he will be speaking at a seminar for Auckland judges and practitioners focusing on recent developments in UK public law.